


Tuesday

by Know_Your_Paradoxes



Category: Kindergarten (Video Game 2017)
Genre: Alternate Ending, And Nugget Wants Revenge, Autism, Basically the Loop Ends, Billy is Saved, But It's Also Nugget, But PC gets Punished, Character Death, Child Death, Death, Gen, Headcanon, IT'S RAINING JUSTICE., Non-Binary Nugget, Non-Canon Anything Really, Non-Canonical Character Death, Nugget will not give the Principal the satisfaction., Nugget's Real Name is Jacob, Other, POV Third Person, So It's Basically First-Person, They/Them Nugget
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2018-11-19 06:57:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11308101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Know_Your_Paradoxes/pseuds/Know_Your_Paradoxes
Summary: What if it WASN'T Monday forever?





	1. Tuesday x1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, Nugget is a precious, precocious child who deserves to be protected at all times. Also Nugget uses they/them pronouns and there's nothing any of you can do about it. And they're also autistic. And they also fall in love easily and have had crushes on at least three people. Probably more if their school were bigger.  
> (Nugget is a great character and child and I will protect him at all costs.)  
> ALSO THE PLAYER CHARACTER'S NAME IS EVAN. BECAUSE I SAID SO. THERE. CANON.  
> And Nugget's real name is Jacob. They just prefer Nugget.
> 
> As you can probably tell, I enjoy this game and its characters quite a lot.

Nugget's back slid against the door after hearing the gunshot ring out. They covered their ears. The stimulation that had arisen within their head because of just one particular "BANG" was enough to send them reeling. To think, that gunshot had taken the life of the Heroic Evan. Evan had been a great friend to Nugget. They had cared for him unlike they had cared for most other people, save for the Friendly Billy and the Pretty Lily. The Heroic Evan had died in honor, after rescuing the Friendly Billy from underneath the school, where the Principal had been torturing him.

Yet somehow, the Principal had come back from the dead, even though the Heroic Evan had mentioned that he had died due to an abomination of a monster grabbing him and completely eviscerating his body. The Heroic Evan had mentioned something like this. That every Monday would reset for him, and he would be back to square one. It was an odd thought to have, one that Nugget just couldn't seem to wrap their head around. Despite it being a fairly simple concept -- a repetition of a particular day -- it was still fairly new to them. They were 5 years old, this was not a time for them to be learning quantum physics or discovering the flaws within Einstein's Theory of Relativity. (Nugget's mother would claim otherwise, considering them to be a "smart boy", a term that Nugget had to grit their teeth at whenever it was mentioned.)

Tears were pricking at Nugget's eyes, as they dashed to the bathroom. They hadn't forgotten that the older boy who guarded the halls was hidden in there, and they had prepared for this. They typically bought a pack of cigarettes every week at the beginning from Monty, solely to bribe the hall monitor out so they could occasionally sneak into the bathrooms. 

Overstimulation was abundant within Mrs. Applegate's room. What with Cindy and Buggs "pretend" arguing during their games of house, Monty constantly chatting Jerome's ear off, and the occasional sound of older kids being sent down the halls into the Principal's office, just to get shot and splattered against the walls like the Heroic Evan had just been. Gunshots could be heard from almost anywhere within the building, they believed. Anyone with decent hearing could tell that somebody was getting shot on the lowest floor. Nugget wondered if the upper floor classes knew just how lucky they were not to be able to hear the firearms, so close and personal, so loud and jarring.

They didn't even lock eyes with the hall monitor, handing him the cigarette box from within their pocket, and jumping into the first stall. The hall monitor seemed a bit concerned from what Nugget could see of his expression out of the corner of their eye, but they didn't dare to approach or talk to him. They just wanted to calm down and get over their episode. Remembering the Silly Putty that their mom had bought for them, that they took with them every day to school, just in case the overstimulation grew to be too much, that they didn't dare mention was a stimming mechanism to help them cope with their autism, they grabbed the cylinder from the opposite pocket of which the cigarettes had been hiding, and removed the putty from inside, beginning to squish it within their hands.

A sigh escaped their lips, as they began to feel calmer almost immediately. The sounds were a bit crude (read: it sounded like a fart every time they squeezed it), but the sensation of the putty being squeezed between their fingers was relaxing in a way that they couldn't even describe.

Suddenly, a knock at the stall threw them out of their trance. They had realized that they hadn't been in the classroom for morning time, and began to stuff the putty back into its container, until they heard the voice on the opposite end of the door.

"Uh, hey, kid. You alright? You looked like you'd just witnessed a murder."

It was the dumb hall monitor that Nugget didn't want to talk to. They sighed, and felt tears begin to sting at their eyes once again. They didn't want to remember that anymore. They had almost forgotten about it for the time being. They had almost rid their consciousness of the thought that the Heroic Evan was lying dead within the Principal's office. Their chest began to heave with sobs as they replied, "N-Nugget is fine."

The hall monitor seemed a bit hostile as he retorted, "Nobody who's doing fine speaks like that while crying. Look, I understand the thing where you speak in third person. It's weird, but I get it. But even when you're crying? That's pretty suspicious, little dude."

Nugget bit their bottom lip so hard that they tasted the metallic flavor of blood on the tip of their tongue. "Alright, Nugget is not fine. Nugget has reason to believe that their friend was killed today."

The hall monitor went silent. Typically Nugget could hear him breathing, due to the breathing issue created by the cigarette habit he had formed, assuming. But right then, there wasn't even breathing to be heard. Only cold, hard silence. Nugget didn't even move, or squeeze the putty within their hands.

"That's messed up, little dude. I'm so sorry to hear that. Truth be told, I've heard of similar accusations before. Nobody close to me has ever been killed before, but I've heard some shady stuff about this elementary school." The hall monitor sighed. "I wish I could help you out, but I don't know much other than the rumors I've heard around school."

Nugget nodded, knowing full well that he couldn't see them nodding on the other side of the stall door. "Nugget understands. They wouldn't wish the Smoking Hall Monitor to divulge any information that might be hard for him to admit."

The hall monitor seemed taken aback as he answered, "Y-You're... you're a weirdo, but you're actually pretty smart. Honestly, nobody else comes in here already prepared with cigarettes every time they come in. What kind of stuff are they teaching you little kids in kindergarten?" He chuckled. "You can stay in here as long as you like, kid. Just make sure that if you're gonna stay in here until lunch to tell me so I can tell the teacher or something, alright?"

Nugget's heart began to swell a little with happiness and gratitude. Despite not initially wanting to speak to the hall monitor, they had made a semi-friend out of the deal, and had made sure that they could secure the bathroom. "Uh, Nugget would like to ask if they can use the bathroom throughout the week without cigarettes. They will still buy you some, but only on Mondays."

The hall monitor deliberated a while before reaching a verdict. "Yeah, that works. I get a lot of cigs from the other gremlins in your class anyway. Monty typically gets me some every Wednesday, Lily typically does on Fridays, Cindy on Tuesdays, and Buggs on Thursdays... you're right on schedule, little man." Nugget could tell that he was smiling, even though they couldn't see him at all through the tiny crack in the door. Nugget had no choice but to smile as well.

"Thank you. Nugget will make it up to you. Only using the bathroom if deemed necessary."

The hall monitor asked almost immediately afterward, "What do you even come in here for? I never hear you move around, and there's the same amount of toilet paper after you leave. Unless you have a bathroom pass, anyway. I just wanna know why you like coming in here so often with no reason."

Nugget felt a wave of dread begin to wash over them. They hadn't been expecting to hear this question from anyone, much less from the Smoking Hall Monitor. They truly didn't want to divulge the answer, but they decided that they wanted to tell him so that they didn't have the guilt of lying hanging over their head every time they entered the bathrooms. "Well... Nugget has autism. They get overstimulated sometimes, so they need a quiet place to calm down. Nugget typically brings in Silly Putty, but they would like to make homemade glue sometime. Their mother refuses to make any, because she doesn't know that Nugget is autistic."

"Self-diagnosed, huh? You some kind of WebMD expert?"

"Nugget took many tests, and all of them believe Nugget has probably autism. They do not seem to be sure of the specific area on the spectrum that Nugget falls, but Nugget believes that they do fall within the autism spectrum. They don't want to tell their mother because their mother is a crazed maniac! She believes that vaccines are the cause of autism within children! It's absolutely preposterous! Nugget will not stand to go unvaccinated!"

Hall Monitor began to laugh. "Ah, I see. You're a damn smart kid, aren't you?"

"Please do not say that. It reminds Nugget of their mother calling them a 'smart boy'. They hate that phrase."

"Alright, that's cool. But really, you are. Not a lot of kids your age can do that sort of thing and understand it the way you do. Only kid I've seen that can compete is Monty. Pretty sure he's smarter though." He seemed genuine in his sentiment.

Nugget nodded. "This is true. Monty can completely read. Nugget can read, yet cannot fully comprehend certain words. Nugget wishes they could comprehend words the way that Monty can. Monty is a very 'smart boy', Nugget's mother would say. They wish they didn't have to bring her up at the moment."

Hall Monitor didn't seem bothered. "Hey, it happens. Isn't a symptom of autism not being able to keep conversation well?"

Nugget grinned. "Nugget doesn't believe it! Someone else who knows that autism is a disorder and that there are certain symptoms that go along with it! Anytime Nugget tried to mention it to other kids, they pretended like they didn't hear Nugget. Nugget was beginning to lose hope."

"Hey, chill out, little dude. I'm not a expert or anything, but I've seen some stuff. My mom's a nurse. She does that sort of thing."

Nugget's hand squished the putty out of instinct. The fart noise that it made pierced the stagnant air throughout the bathroom, and Nugget had to hold in their laughter. They had considered themselves above fart jokes, but they couldn't help it when that moment arose.

"What the hell was that?" the hall monitor asked, his voice distorted, as though he were plugging his nose out of sheer concern.

"No need to worry. It's only Nugget's Silly Putty. It makes that sound sometimes. They want to make homemade slime because it's also quieter. They would prefer to keep the sound of the Silly Putty out of their stimulation. Nugget also likes to flap their arms whenever they're happy. It's fun. Plus, Nugget's mother says that she likes seeing me exercising, so Nugget makes extra sure to keep the stims slightly toned down and strictly physical when in her presence." Nugget felt like they were reading a list of rules for their mother and their household, almost as though their mother were looming over their head like a puppeteer controlling every action they did, speaking their words for them, throwing her voice and contorting it to their pitch and intonation.

Hall Monitor seemed to pick up on it too but didn't mention it, instead conveying it through his momentary silence. "I see. It's hard to think that your own mom would punish you for having a mental illness, huh? I can't relate, but I can understand how awful that would feel."

Nugget fidgeted with the putty, now poking small holes into its surface with their fingertips, making sure that it didn't make the same noise again. "Nugget wishes that their mother understood. And Nugget also wishes that she would call them by their name instead of the name she gave them at birth. Nugget prefers Nugget to their real name you see. They also refer to themselves like this. Not himself. Or he. Or his."

"Gotcha. Didn't think you even had another name. Or at least hadn't suspected it was any different than Nugget, since that's the only name I've heard used to refer to you, little dude." He seemed to pick up on the verbal tic that made him call Nugget a "little dude", and promptly asked, "I'm sorry, is it alright that I've been calling you that?"

"Nugget will allow it. They don't see that as a word that doesn't fit them. Sometimes they don't mind what they're called by others. Except for their other name. They don't allow anyone to call them by it unless it's their family."

The hall monitor chuckled softly. "Alright. Uh... hey. If you need someone to talk to, I'd be willing to talk if you need it. Even though you're a kindergartener, and I'm a sixth grader. Just someone to vent to, right? I'm ready to listen, alright, kid?"

Nugget's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. They had never had someone that they could vent to before. There was really nobody that they were that close with. The hall monitor was much nicer than his appearance would have you believe, and they had just realized this for themselves. Their heart was aflutter with joy as they replied, "Nugget would like that very much!" Nugget's arms began to flap a little within the stall. They made sure not to bump their hands against anything so as to startle the hall monitor (or hurt themselves, for that matter, but they were much more worried with scaring their new... friend? With loud noises. Nugget wouldn't want to drive away a nice person with something like that.).

They had an immovable grin for the rest of morning time. It was so big that whenever Billy asked them what they were so happy about, Nugget had to simply shrug it off and tell him, "Nugget will speak to you about it later."


	2. Tuesday x2

_Nugget does not wish to forget anymore. Nugget wishes to find justice for the death of their friend. Nugget remembers all. Nugget remembers the Friendly Billy's disappearance, Nugget remembers the death of the Heroic Evan, Nugget remembers the Pretty Lily. Nugget remembers the way that they've died. Nugget remembers falling into their Nugget Cave. Nugget remembers every repetition. Nugget remembers being stuck in that insufferable time loop. Nugget does not wish to forget anymore. Nugget wishes only to remember and wallow in their pain._

Nugget awoke in the middle of that night with a terrible startle. They felt a cold sweat break across their forehead. What had they done the day before? Why hadn't they taken the time to look into the Heroic Evan's death? Why hadn't they done everything in their power to stop things? Why hadn't they allowed themselves the chance to play detective and try to wrap their head around what was going on at the school? Why hadn't they decided to help themselves, and in turn, help their friends?

They rocked back and forth on their bed, the silent numbers on their digital clock slowly ticking away. It took them about 15 minutes before they felt the need to sleep once again.

When Nugget woke up that morning, they found their pillow covered in the tears of the wee hours.

* * *

"Hey, Nugget!" exclaimed a voice. Nugget turned so fast that they almost fell over once landing to face the sound of the voice. It was the Friendly Billy, and he had as bright a smile as ever. Nugget walked over to him on the yard. This was the highlight of their day -- getting to talk to their friends before school officially started and they were considered an outcast once again. After what had happened to the Heroic Evan, the other kids seemed to be more comfortable talking to one another, or at least from what Nugget had seen after finally calming down from the panic attack they had in the bathroom stall. The Cruel Cindy was even somewhat woeful around the Pretty Lily.

"Hello, Friendly Billy! It's nice to see you again." Nugget was sure that they had heard the exact same inflection in the Friendly Billy's voice the day before.

The Friendly Billy's smile was wide. "Come on! We were just talking to our new friend! You remember that kid that saved me yesterday?" he asked.

Nugget's eyes widened with surprise, the Heroic Evan standing there, speaking to the Pretty Lily as though he hadn't been murdered gruesomely the day before. It was almost as though Nugget were still within their dreams, pretending like the Heroic Evan had survived. They had already started to miss him. The Heroic Evan had been one of Nugget's only friends, besides the Friendly Billy. And while the Friendly Billy was gone, nobody wanted to talk to them. They had been all by themselves, not even the Pretty Lily would check up on them to see how they were doing. Nugget didn't hold that against her -- she was grieving, and they knew that perfectly well. They were grieving too, and if they were in the Pretty Lily's shoes, they were pretty sure they wouldn't want to speak to people a lot either.

The Heroic Evan smiled, his toothy grin extending across his entire face, as though he wasn't aware of what happened to him.

Had the previous day's events just been a dream? Had the Hall Monitor's friendliness never been real? Had Nugget just been fantasizing crazily about what had transpired? Was it only a nightmare, that was finally over?

"Hi, Nugget!" the Heroic Evan beamed.

The Pretty Lily gave a shy grin before staring at the grass. She had always loved flowers. Nugget had once tried to pick a flower and give it to her, but she hadn't accepted their offer. They were confused. They supposed that she only liked certain types of flowers. Perhaps she was merely particular in her tastes.

Nugget waved, their face full of disbelief. "Nugget had a terrible dream," they began, unsure of their words. If it was a dream, then why had everything felt so real? Why could they still feel the Silly Putty wrapped around their fingers, the tears falling down their face, the harsh wood of the door pressed against their back? Why could they still hear the sound of the loud bang that had sealed the Heroic Evan's horrific fate, the oddly gassy sound of the Silly Putty being squished, the encouraging words of the Hall Monitor?

The Pretty Lily looked at them with wide eyes. "You... you did? Why? We got Billy back yesterday."

Nugget shook his head. "Nugget had a dream where the Heroic Evan was punished horribly for his brave actions in saving the Friendly Billy."

The Heroic Evan seemed a bit unnerved by Nugget's explanation for their dream. "Really? But... the principal died yesterday. We accidentally killed him while we were underneath the school saving Billy. Why would anyone else punish us? Except maybe the janitor."

"In my dream, the Criminally Insane Janitor was not there, and the Evil Principal had returned to life. Nugget does not know what has happened. Nugget does not wish to know. Nugget does not wish to remember what was in their terrible dream. Nugget only wishes to go about their life and forget that the dream happened. How was your first full day of kindergarten yesterday, Friendly Billy?"

Billy's eyebrows cocked in confusion. "What do you mean? I haven't had a full day yet. I just got rescued from underneath the school yesterday. I was only there for Show and Tell, and then I went home with Sis."

Nugget felt their heart sink a little. "You mean... Nugget's going crazy? Nugget is believing their awful dream to have been true?" they asked, their words beginning to catch in their throat. What the heck had happened? Which was real -- what was happening now, or what had happened "yesterday"? They pinched themselves a little, their facial expression unwavering. Today definitely FELT real, but then again, so had the day prior. There was no way of knowing what was real and what wasn't anymore. It was only a matter of what Nugget believed to be real.

"H-Hey, Nugget! Are you alright?" A voice snapped Nugget back to reality from their inner musings. It was the Pretty Lily, and she looked concerned. "What were you thinking about that you were so worried?"

Nugget brushed it off and made a dismissive gesture. "Nothing. Nugget was thinking of nothing. The Principal's pills are no longer part of Nugget's medications, and thus Nugget is experiencing the side effects of withdrawals. Nugget had been taking them quite regularly, and now Nugget is going cold turkey. It is a strange sensation."

Nugget admitted that they felt a bit off now that they weren't taking the Principal's pills, and hadn't been for the past two(?) days, but that wasn't anywhere close to what they had just been thinking or experiencing.

However, the excuse seemed viable, as the others shrugged it away, as though Nugget had said something particularly passe.

"Um... Lily?" a voice asked. Nugget's, as well as the other kids within their tiny circle's, head turned to face the source of the voice, and were stunned to happen across the Cruel Cindy.

"H-Hi, Cindy... What do you want?" she asked, clearly confused and a bit upset.

The Cruel Cindy and the Pretty Lily had a lot of bad history between them. The Friendly Billy had realized the cruel nature of Cindy's ways, and had decided to break up with her during their brief stint as boyfriend and girlfriend, and Cindy had gotten so angry that she had sworn to take her revenge. But after the Friendly Billy went missing, the Cruel Cindy had had no one to exact revenge upon, and so she had decided that Lily was an acceptable target. Nugget loathed her for that. The Pretty Lily didn't deserve that. She was a nice girl, and she had never done anything to the Cruel Cindy, yet she took all the punishment for an act that her brother had committed, and didn't even seem to want the Friendly Billy to apologize to her for not taking the brunt of the torture. The Pretty Lily was a very strong girl. She could withstand anything, and she would come out even stronger than before. Nugget admired her greatly for that. She and the Friendly Billy were two of the most brave, strong, and amazing people that Nugget knew.

However, this was not a time for memories. This was a time for the Cruel Cindy and the Pretty Lily to reconcile. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for being mean. It was really bad of me to do that. I'm sorry."

The Pretty Lily was shocked. A true, sincere apology, coming from the Cruel Cindy, and there wasn't even an ounce of sarcasm within her voice. She was clearly wholly confused and unsure of what to say or how to react. "W-Well, I..." she began, stammering. Her cheeks began to flush bright pink.

The Friendly Billy stepped forward, so that he was standing right next to his twin sister, and he said, "Thank you, Cindy. But that doesn't excuse all the terrible things you did to my Sis. She might forgive you, but I won't. Especially since she had nothing to do with anything. Until you can prove to me that you're really sorry, I won't be able to forgive you for making my Sis this upset."

Cindy nodded. "That's alright. I figured it'd be that way anyway. I'm sorry to you too, Billy. You had every right not to want to be my boyfriend. And I shouldn't have yelled at you and gotten us both in trouble after." She sounded completely sincere yet again, something that Nugget had never really thought they would hear.

"You're right. You shouldn't have. And I'm still mad at you." Billy had an angry look in his eyes that Nugget had never seen before. It was intimidating and kind of scary coming from the Friendly Billy. "But me and my sister are nice, so you're okay with us. For now."

Cindy let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. I promise that if I say anything awful to either of you again, I'll never come around you. Pinky promise." She held out a pinky, which Billy linked, the stone, intimidating expression on his face from before still set on his features. Cindy smiled and walked away, joining Buggs, her on-and-off-again boyfriend since the earliest days of preschool.

Nugget's head had stopped spinning since the previous night's dream when the Heroic Evan had taken the bullet.

Evan looked to Nugget and then to Lily and Billy. "Um, do either of you mind if I just talk to Nugget for a second?" he asked.

They both turned to face each other and then nodded collectively, with almost perfect syncopation, before taking their leave. After they had left, Evan turned directly toward Nugget and asked, "What exactly is going on? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Nugget shook their head. "Nugget does not know what the Heroic Evan is talking about. Nugget promises that they have not seen anything of the sort."

"I know when you're lying, Nugget. Just tell me if there's something going on?"

Nugget felt everything in their brain start to click into place. If they told the Heroic Evan, what would he think of the situation? Would he dismiss Nugget's warning and chalk it up to something Nugget had made up in their mind? What were they going to do if they had warned him and yet he had still managed to die?

Nugget swallowed their pride before shaking their head once again. "Nugget does not have anything to worry about. Nugget is still kind of taking the absence of their pills in stride. The Heroic Evan has nothing to worry about either. He should rest easily knowing that his friend Nugget is fine."

Evan cocked an eyebrow, as though he were questioning the answer that Nugget had given him, but he didn't protest verbally. He just shrugged and patted Nugget on the shoulder as he led them back to Lily and Billy to keep talking before Morning Time began.

Sneaking out of Morning Time to listen in on the Principal's Office proved slightly more difficult today. But the result was still the same.

Nugget didn't go into the bathroom today. Nugget simply sat on the cold hard floor of the hallway and sobbed in silence, lest they get killed by the Principal just like their friend.


	3. Tuesday x3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back, back again, Tuesday's back. tell a friend

_Nugget feels terrible. Nugget wishes there was something they could do to make things right again. But Nugget is not strong, or good at speaking, or smart. Nugget is just Nugget. Nothing more. Nugget doesn't wish to forget anymore. Nuggest wishes to remember. Nugget wishes to be free._

Nugget's eyes opened wide and they shot out of bed as soon as their alarm went off. They felt their head spinning and they weren't sure what was happening or why it was, but one thing was certain -- the loops were happening again. And the Heroic Evan couldn't experience them anymore.

At first, Nugget had simply assumed the reason why Evan had no control over the loop was because he died in each time loop. It would explain when Evan spoke about being caught in a loop every Monday for around 20 or so days straight, and no one else remembering -- anyone who died that day wouldn't remember the loops. Evan never died during any of those days. At least, not that he had ever admitted to Nugget. Nugget was sure that the Heroic Evan had never been able to make it completely unscathed, that was true, but still, it was uncharacteristic of him to be down for the count and die when he was so clever.

The Heroic Evan was clever. The Heroic Evan was going to make it out of the loop some time. Even if it took Nugget a million tries, they would save their friend. They wanted to save him. Because they cared for him.

And then came the anxiety.

Everything felt like it was happening all at once. Nugget's mind raced as they pondered everything. Did their body continue to age as they went through the loops, or would they stay a kindergartner forever until they managed to save the Heroic Evan once and make it past Tuesday? Would Evan even believe them when they said that they had experienced his loops just like he had on Monday? Would they even believe themselves if they ended up telling Evan about it? Would anyone even care?

Why did Nugget care so much about the Heroic Evan, anyway?

The world spun too fast for Nugget to comprehend, and yet it had completely slowed down to a screeching halt in the same exact moment. All the colors of the glow-in-the-dark stars that their mother had pasted above their bed on their ceiling to make them dream happy dreams of space and being the first person to eat a chicken nugget on the moon were all blurs of shapes and bright neon. The light was starting to shine through their windows and their curtains, muted, but still enough to dim the bright stars from the fake sky above.

Nugget's breathing was loud and full of fear. They weren't ready for today. They had already gone through the day twice, and they weren't ready for it. No matter how hard they tried, they wanted to be ready. They wanted to make everything fine. They wanted to be able to save the Heroic Evan. They wanted to see the Friendly Billy and the Pretty Lily again.

They wanted a chance.

Their breathing only got quicker and quicker, until they felt tears starting to fall down their face and the stars above them started to look just like blobs of vaguely luminescent color. Pink, purple, green, blue, yellow... they were muted. Viewed through the lens of tears and distress, painted by a woman who didn't love Nugget, who didn't care that they felt like crying any time she said "you're such a smart boy, Jacob" or "you're not autistic, Jacob, you just want special treatment" or even the whispered tones of dissatisfaction with Nugget that she tried so desperately to keep hidden from their ears, but they could still hear.

Nugget continued to struggle for air, feeling that the stars above them were starting to come closer and closer. They would crash down onto them, filling their empty lungs with stardust and space and nothing at all. They felt constricted -- reaching for the stars had always been something they wanted, and now that they were getting closer, more realistic to reach, they wanted nothing more than to have the stars go back.

What would Evan feel in this situation? What would he do, seeing that space itself was about to implode against him, crushing him and making him dust to become another body in the universe?

Nugget closed their eyes and tried their best to imagine that they were Evan. But no matter what, they couldn't do it.

Now, not only was the fake sky starting to fall down around them, but they were now being accompanied by the ringing echoes of gunfire in their ears, and the image of their best friend dying at the hands of pure evil.

Their throat was closed, yet they still managed to scream, and when they screamed, their mother came in, like the good mother she is, like the good mother she thinks she is, like the good mother Nugget wanted her to be but never got, like the good mother that Jacob deserves, and she sat down on Nugget's bed, cradling their head and cooing off-key lullabies that they hadn't heard since they were 3, and making them believe that she was a knight in shining, neon, star-covered armor.

They figured that they could skip school for at least a single Tuesday.


End file.
